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A magnificent McKee Platero Navajo silver
and Sonoran Gold turquoise ring, 2022
In the entire 160 or so year history of Navajo silversmithing, the name of McKee Platero occupies an honored spot
at the very top of the All-Star list alongside those of Kenneth Begay, Fred Peshlakai and Slender-Maker of Silver. Platero's work by virtue of its imperccable overall quality, remarkable uniqueness of design and outstanding workmanship simply towers head and shoulders above that of almost everyone else. He is quite literally the twenty-four carat gold standard of contemporary Navajo silver.
This extraordinary ring is a perfect example. It is designed and constructed as precisely and as perfectly as the Golden Gate Bridge, solid as a rock yet artistic, graceful and exceptionally, timelessly elegant. The thick triple-split silver shank of the ring supports a large oval shaped silver bezel platform in which is set the incredibly beautiful large high-domed Sonoran turquoise stone. More on this interesting stone in a moment. The stone is beautifully set in a unique very high-walled, very highly-polished silver bezel which serves to perfectly highlight and frame its preciousness and unique beauty. The large hand-shaped cabochon-cut Sonoran Gold turquoise stone from northern Mexico is an unusual variety
with a beautiful bright blue and light seafoam green color and interesting dark and medium brown matrixing.
Platero is well known for seeking out some of the most interesting and distinctive set stones to use in his jewelry.
SONORAN GOLD TURQUOISE
Sonoran Gold turquoise is mined in the Sonoran Desert of Northern Mexico, a region which has been a source of high-quality turquoise for centuries. The Sonoran mine is located at Campitos Mountain, just outside the small city of Cananea, some 45 miles south of Bisbee, Arizona, the location of another renowned high-quality turquoise mine.




McKee Platero in Santa Fe, 1998
The ring measures a size 8 1/2 on a professional graduated ring sizer, but that is not the entire story. Due to the
somewhat oval shape of the shank, the rign will also fit very nicely on fingers up to and including sizes 9 and 9 1/2.
We have tested this personally ourselves and it is clearly the case. The ring weighs a substantial, yet completely comfortable to wear 39 grams or 1 3/8 ounces, but have no doubt about it, you will definitely know that you are wearing
it because of its great presence and intensity.
The ring is in remarkably excellent, almost like-new original condition and it is properly signed "McKee A. Platero" in his cursive signature on the back along with his longtime three-dot insignia signifiying the belt of the constellation Orion in the night sky. We originally purchased it hot off the press in August, 2022 from a longtime colleague who had just mere days before bought it directly from McKee Platero who had just finished making it. In the intervening two and a half years, we have only worn it maybe once or twice and then just very briefly, most of the time it has just proudly stood on a ring stand and been admired for its incredible looks. We can say definitively that this piece is like a shining beacon of beauty,
it just projects artistic power outwards in all directions as you will certainly experience yourself if you are fortunate enough to become its next owner.
In any case, here it is now available for a very rare moment in time. The only question is, will you seize the moment?
SOLD











Like Bisbee, Sonoran Gold turquoise is also a by-product of a large-scale copper mining operation in the area. Sonoran Gold turquoise is unique in that it is typically found in clay deposits as nuggets, rather than in veins like many other types of turquoise. Sonoran Gold turquoise is greatly-admired for its vibrant strong colors which are a combination of various blues and greens, usually mixed with a medium golden to deep brown matrix.